Mentors
by Aurora Shadowglen
Summary: When a new teammate is assigned to the team, none of Young Justice ever thought they would have so much trouble on their hands. A/N Rating is precautionary for some of the missions later on.
1. A Shaky Beginning

Hi everyone! This is my first fanfiction to be uploaded so please give me some good CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms and comments in the reviews. If I make a mistake on some detail that pertains to the story, please send me a message and I will fix the problem if it is needed. (Please take into account that I have college classwork and this is a hobby so the time between chapters and fixes might vary.)

Having said that, I have ONLY watched the Young Justice, Teen Titans, and some of the Justice League episodes so PLEASE don't cream me for doing something that would be out of character for the actual DC characters. Now that that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy my first fanfiction, _Mentors_**!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the DC Universe or Young Justice. I only own my OC (Gravatina Nova).**

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><p>It was a typical day at Mount Justice. Megan was in the kitchen baking some concoction. Superboy was working on his motorcycle and entertaining the big rolling alien robot. Kalder and Robin were sparring with Black Canary watching them like a hawk. Finally, Kid Flash, aka Wally, was chowing down on chips and anything else he could get his hands on while watching TV.<p>

All was quiet, until a familiar deep voice interrupted their daily routine with two sentences. "This is Batman. Briefing room, now."

It took them only five minutes to gather (most of that time was waiting for Artemis to arrive) in the main room of Mount Justice where Batman stood waiting for them. "Listen up, I gathered you all to introduce a new teammate. She's an alien from a planet called Telmar and has only been here on Earth for a few weeks."

Wally, ever the impatient one, quickly raised his hand and asked, "So where is she? And is she hot?"

Everyone groaned and Artemis elbowed him, hard. Batman didn't even seem fazed by the question. "J'onn is bringing her here as we speak."

On cue, the computer announced the arrival of J'onn and an 'authorized guest'. The members of Young Justice quickly turned around to see the new member.

If Batman hadn't told them their teammate was a girl, none of them would have known. She was wearing a gray cloak that went down to the ankles of her black leather boots and the hood of her cloak went down halfway over her face, covering her face completely in shadows. The Martian Manhunter was the first to speak. "This is Gravatina Nova, your new teammate."

Aqualad stepped forward and held out his right hand. "I'm Aqualad but please call me Kalder."

The hood turned to look at J'onn. It was only after the Martian nodded that a black leather-gloved hand inched its way out behind the gray cloak and hesitantly took his hand. Kalder smiled then motioned with his left hand to the rest of the team. After he introduced them all, a small voice emerged from behind the hood. "Maii bonam fortunam cum omnibus vobis. Spero tibi probo dignus."

Everyone in the room looked puzzled except possibly Miss Martian. Kid Flash blinked and went, "Huh?"

J'onn placed a hand on the new girl's shoulder. "You're going to have to speak English to them, Gravatina. I highly doubt they know Classic Latin."

Wally, ever the loudmouth, quickly spoke, "No way, I just caught off guard! As a scientist, Latin is my expertise!"

The girl sighed. "Apparently, you had no idea what I said otherwise you would have given an adequate response, Kid Flash."

Again, Wally blinked but this time Artemis started laughing. "Woah! You really got burned that time! I think I like Gravatina!"

"Hey! I know she said "good fortune" and something else! She spoke so soft I couldn't hear the rest!"

Artemis just shook her head in amusement. The girl let go of Aqualad's hand, suddenly aware she'd held it longer than she'd meant to, and turned to Artemis. "Please, call me 'Grava' or 'Tina'. Gravatina is my full first name and quite long by Earth standards."

Wally suddenly appeared next to her with an arm on her shoulder. "Mind if I call you 'Lovely'?"

Before the team's eyes, Grava simultaneously tripped and shoved Wally to the floor. A gold light radiated from beneath her hood as she brought up a hand, glowing gold, and was about to bring it down at Wally when the Martian Manhunter grabbed her forearm. A shockwave blasted past the stunned occupants, causing the girl's hood to slowly slide back from her face.

The girl had a narrow face that was partially obscured by blonde-brown hair with some red streaks through it. The glow, that came from beneath her hood, now revealed itself as her eyes glowing. Slowly, the glow faded revealing her iris' to be bright neon yellow.

J'onn spoke hard to Grava as he released her arm. "Control yourself. You're no longer on the streets of Telmar."

To the team, he stated. "She's had a rough life and isn't used to holding back when protecting herself. You'll need to help her-"

"Which is why I called you all together," Batman finished. "As of right now you all are Grava's mentors. "

"Mentors?"

"Yes. Mentors, teachers, or whichever you prefer but here's the layout. Robin and Artemis, you'll be teaching her hand to hand combat and acrobatics. Aqualad and Miss Martian, you'll be teaching her control for her powers. Kid Flash and Superman, you'll be her training and sparring partners."

Kid Flash leaned close to Superboy and whispered, "More like human punching bags…"

The girl looked at him and Wally just gave her a sheepish grin until he looked into her eyes and then he suddenly grew nervous. Yellow eyes weren't a usual human eye color he'd seen before. She quickly looked away and spared him from more embarrassment in front of Batman.

Batman waited until the team was focused on him again before making his last comments. "J'onn has agreed to stay here for the week due to Red Tornado's absence. If you have any questions regarding training regiment, ask Black Canary or J'onn. Dismissed."

Miss Martian quickly came over to Grava and began to slowly get Grava to answer some small questions while leading her deeper into the cave, no doubt showing the new girl her room. While the two girls went off, the team gathered closer and Robin stated what all of them were thinking. "She's a live wire…"

"Yes, and we'll need to be very careful with her," Aqualad sighed. "I'm extremely concerned about her mental state. If Martian Manhunter hadn't been here, Wally would not be standing right now…"

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><p>Alright, all you readers! (I know you're out there somewhere...) PLEASE REVIEW! Or you won't get the next chapter.<p> 


	2. Rumblings

Thank you, catpatch30, for the reviews! As promised here is Chapter 2! Hope you all enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I own only my OC, Gravatina Nova.**

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><p>- Chapter 2 -<p>

M'gann, aka Megan, floated through the corridors showing her new teammate, Grava, around Mount Justice. Throughout the whole tour, Grava barely said 5 words drawing a concerned look from the normally happy Martian.

It was only when Megan brought her to the hangar and showed her the bioship that Grava's expression changed. "I can't believe it! A real Martian Bioship? I haven't seen one in ages!"

The girl raced up to the Bioship that was currently in rest mode and placed a hand on it. A grin slowly emerged onto her face but quickly fell once she saw Megan watching her. Grava's hand quickly retreated back underneath her cloak as she swiftly lowered her head and looked to the floor, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to assume that I could touch it! Please forgive me!"

Megan blinked in surprise. "No, it's fine! I don't mind you touching her. You've seen a Bioship before?"

Grava nodded, her head still lowered. Megan looked closely at Grava. What had happened to her to make her act this way? Megan could tell that it wasn't just acting; no, it was a trained reaction. Something, or someone, had continuously caused Grava to expect some sort of negative reaction when she looked or touched something.

Shaking the troubling thoughts from her mind, Megan brought a smile to her face and asked, "Would you like to take a look inside?"

Grava's yellow eyes were wide with shock as she looked at Megan. "You mean... I can?"

"Of course!"

With a wave of her hand, Megan's Bioship morphed from rest to flight mode and the hatch door quickly opened. Grava looked between the Bioship and Megan, her yellow eyes filled with curiosity and uncertainty. Tentatively, Grava took a step into the Bioship then stopped. After pausing for a time, Grava took another step inside. followed swiftly by another. She gained confidence with each step until she was finally at the control panels.

Megan floated in and watched the girl as she looked over each keyboard display with only her eyes showing her excitement. Grava asked Megan a few simple questions and Megan answered but the Martian's mind was on other thoughts. Grava had emotional walls around her, but why were they there in the first place? What had caused this Telmarine to be so anti-social? Weren't they normally supposed to be a happy people?

Megan continued to ponder as Grava discovered the Bioship, but the Martian's thoughts were growing darker with each passing second. If Grava's emotional state was in shambles, then how bad was her control over her powers? Megan shook her head again. There were just some things a person, and even a Martian, didn't want to know...

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><p>Aqualad's thoughts were similar to Miss Martian's as he walked into the training room, except for one big difference. Kalder had noticed what emotion the new teammate's eyes had revealed for only a second before she had attacked Wally.<p>

Fear.

She was shy, fearful of others both in the room and touching her, and it had taken J'onn's approval to convince Grava to even give Kalder a simple handshake. Someone must have done something horrible to her in order for her to be so guarded. Either that or multiple people had abused her...

Kalder sighed. He could go on and on trying to figure out what was going on with his new teammate but all the speculation in the world wouldn't give him the answers he needed. Only the silent, timid Gravatina Nova would be able to answer those questions, and the odds of her ever speaking of a subject like that were infinitely slim to none.

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><p>Batman walked through the Justice League's Tower and quickly opened up a secure line on the communications panel. After making sure he was successfully connected, he spoke, "The girl is at the safe house. The team has been alerted."<p>

A voice garbled back a response but Batman answered the implied question. "No, they have not been informed of that situation and the League is still searching for the other traveler."

Another garbled reply echoed thorough the line and Batman finished the conversation with, "I'll make sure of it. Personally. Batman out."

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><p><strong>And so the plot thickens!<strong> Yes it might be short but the drama increases drastically.

**Okay, the solution for a quicker update = reviews!**


	3. Shadowy Teammate

**As promised, here is Chapter 3! A big thank you to catpatch30 and prettykitty473 for the reviews! And if people are wondering about my OC's bio, please be patient. All will be revealed in due time. Although, I think I'm giving all of you pretty big clues in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Young Justice, I only own Gravatina Nova.**

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><p>Mentors – Chapter 3<p>

Grava strode into the training area the next afternoon to see the whole team waiting for her. After she quickly joined them, Kaldur gave her a small smile then began the meeting.

"Thank you all for coming. I wanted to make sure that we create a new bond with Grava and strengthen our own bonds. Grava, since you're new to the team, I'm afraid you're going to to have to work hard before you can come on missions with us."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," she stated as she adjusted her hood so that it hid her eyes in shadow.

Kid Flash appeared beside her then contorted himself so that he was away from Grava but still able to see underneath her hood. "You know... You don't have to hide your face around us."

Grava shook her head just as Black Canary approached the group. "Why don't we make it a challenge? Each of you will have two minutes in the ring to try and reveal Grava's face. Reasonable, Gravatina?"

Everyone turned to Grava. The girl turned away from the stares and mumbled, "Whatever. You'll just make me do it anyway."

"Awesome!" Wally jumped up with a fist in the air then raced over to the training ring. "I'm first!"

Artemis gave him a rueful smile. "Didn't you get enough of a beating yesterday?"

"She didn't beat me!" Wally exclaimed as he rolled his eyes. "She just caught me a bit off guard. Today she'll see what I really can do!"

Artemis burst out laughing and both Megan and Robin started to chuckle. Aqualad just shook his head. Grava quietly walked over into the ring and stood so still that, compared to the hyper Kid Flash, she was like a statue. Black Canary glanced at both of them before she stated, "Begin."

Kid Flash leapt forward his hand outstretched; ready to grab Grava's hood and end the bout in seconds. Grava ducked under his attempt then turned to face him. Wally snapped his fingers in annoyance then used his powers to race at Grava. With unnatural ease, Grava sidestepped Wally and sent him sprawling onto the hard ground by sticking out a foot. The pattern continued for nearly the whole two minutes.

Finally, after dashing about like a lunatic, Wally managed to take a slim opening in Grava's defenses to reach out and grab at the tip of Grava's hood. Just before his hand touched the fabric, his arm grew suddenly light, missing the hood entirely, and Grava sent him crashing to the ground once again. Dazed, Wally barely managed to ask, "Did ya take lessons from Black Canary or somethin'?"

Grava's yellow eyes met Wally's green ones as she responded with a hard, "No."

The rest of the team struggled to try and accomplish the challenge. Superboy's punches never struck Grava squarely and even the few that brushed against her never made her move back an inch. Artemis' arrows and Robin's boomerangs either missed high or fell short of their target. Aqualad's attacks met with a similar fate to Wally's when he fought Grava, though he did manage to grab the end of her cloak before he was sent flying. Megan was the only one to give the new team member any resemblance of a hard fight. In the end, Canary had to stop the two girls as their powers were starting to grow dangerously chaotic.

The team finished practice for the day and left in a somber mood. No one had thought the new hero would be such a hard opponent and, as they went back to their daily routines, each silently contemplated a strategy for a rematch.

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><p>Thunder and lightning clashed in battle for dominance of the skies over Happy Harbor that night. Tears from the clouds fell down upon the sleeping landscape and went unnoticed by three people, all within Mount Justice.<p>

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><p>Robin crept into the main computer room of Mount Justice. He hadn't exactly told Batman he was going to stay the night with the team but he'd asked Alfred to cover for him. In the back of his mind, he knew that Batman wouldn't believe Alfred since he'd already figured out what Robin was up to. You didn't get the title "World's Greatest Detective" for nothing.<p>

In the space of a few seconds and a hundred codes later, Robin had access to the Justice League archive and was searching through the entries until one superhero bio caught his eye. A light flashed on his wrist guards and Robin quickly saved the file and disconnected from Mount Justice's computers.

Loading the file again, this time on his personal holographic wrist computer, Robin took a closer look at the file's contents. It wasn't an overly long and detailed file; in fact, it was barely acceptable by League standards. However, what wasn't stated was as clear as the actual details reported.

Robin sent the file to Aqualad and deleted the file completely from his computer in the time it took for him to walk over to the zeta beam. Both he and Aqualad had a lot to think and discuss about when they saw each other tomorrow, and most of it wasn't aster…

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><p>A dark shadow raced down the halls, pausing once to wait for a security camera to pass before resuming its flight. When it reached the rear of the mountain, the figure raised a glowing hand and the hidden door smoothly and quietly opened. Leaping out and over the zeta beams, the figure raced out to the surrounding forest.<p>

The individual was nearly to the first outcropping of trees before a phantom-like form emerged from the ground then solidified into the Martian Manhunter. "Grava, why did you leave the cave?"

Grava slid back her hood, her yellow eyes glowing brightly in the night. "I left because I know what they'll do once they find out what I am! It's happened to me many times before, J'onn. They'll pretend to care for me because of what I can do for them, but at the first sign of me losing control... I can't bear to be cast out again!"

J'onn patiently listened to Grava. It wasn't often the girl spoke more than a few words, but when she did decide to speak it was always something to the point or important. "The team is not like the Telmarines, Grava. They each have their own unique abilities and will understand."

"Really? How can you prove it? I fear what happen once I inevitably lose control, J'onn. If only I could control this 'power'..."

"Give it time. You can't control your powers overnight. It takes long hours of study, practice, and patience."

Grava sighed. "I know that and I have been patient. Nevertheless, I need answers! I can't just stumble around with these powers all my life."

"The League is working on a solution. For now, be patient and learn what the team can teach you."

Fists clenched, Grava growled in frustration. "If the League turns on me, I will leave this team and find my sister on my own. Anyone who gets in my way will be flattened. Permanently."

Without another word, she strode back into the mountain.

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><p><strong>Alright everyone, please review but don't think of it as a requirement for the next chapter. I do take reviews seriously and often times they give me ideas for the story. This, in turn, will make me update faster. Hope you enjoyed the new installment!<strong>


	4. A Reluctant Trust

**Phew! Sorry for the late update but Grava was being a pain while I was working on this scene. A big thank you to my reviewers and those who have added my on their favorites and alert lists! You all are great!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Young Justice, Teen Titans, or anything DC. I only own Gravatina Nova.**

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><p>-Chapter 4-<p>

Grava jumped back from Kalder's watery blades and landed just in time to dodge the training dummy that Megan threw using telekinesis. Growling in frustration, since they'd been fighting like this for the last twenty minutes, Aqualad shouted at Grava. "Why do you not fight back?"

"If I hurt you it would be the same as hurting someone on the Justice League and I don't want to be under their ire."

Kalder narrowed his eyes but stayed ready. "I understand but this is training. You need to have the mentality that I am the enemy at this time. You will not be able to learn anything from us if you do not show us what you are capable of."

Grava's normal frown deepened. "Do you and Robin have the same script? He told me the exact same thing, except with bizarre words."

"We both wish to help you."

The girl stared look at Aqualad then reached for her hood and pulled it over her head. "I doubt it."

Miss Martian slowly landed on the training room floor in front of Grava, concern on her green face. "Why?"

Grava whirled around to look at them both. "Why you ask? Why should I trust you with my secrets? You haven't proven to me that you're worthy of my trust!"

Aqualad soften then calmly stated. "We cannot accurately prove ourselves trustworthy if you first do not trust us."

His statement was met with silence for the space of five minutes. Finally, Grava sighed, "Fine. You want to see my power, I'll show you. However, I will not answer any questions about me or my past until I see you're trustworthy."

Aqualad held out his hand. "That is all we ask."

Grava turned to Megan who smiled in agreement. Before either of them could react, both Megan and Aqualad were instantly flung into the air before they crashed down to Earth. They slowly tried to get up but found that they couldn't move their body even an inch. Grava walked over and looked down at them. "Satisfied, now?"

Aqualad, breathless, was able to gasp out, "All this time… you could have beaten us …and you didn't? Why?"

"Because I wanted to observe your combat styles and ranges; though I was really disappointed you weren't using your short and long range attacks to their full potential. You weren't working in tandem either so you made it too easy for me to defeat you."

Grava waved a glowing hand over her two teammates and both Aqualad and Miss Martian were finally able to move freely. Megan looked closely at Grava before she brought up a hand and lightly tapped her forehead. "Duh, Megan! You must be a gravity manipulator! I heard about some other heroes that have similar abilities and- Oh! That must be why it was so easy for you to defeat everyone yesterday!"

Aqualad turned quizzically to Grava. "Is this true?"

Grava hesitated but slowly nodded.

"What else can you do?"

"Well-"

"SNEAK ATTACK!" Wally jumped to tackle Grava just as the girl conjured a yellow orb to float above her hand. Wally barely had the chance to widen his eyes before Grava spun around and threw the orb at him. It nailed him in the chest, right on his yellow thunderbolt, and sent him crashing into one of the training room walls.

Turning her head back to Kalder, Grava smiled. "I am from Telmar so my abilities have some Telmarine traits."

Her smile vanished when she saw the other three members walk into the training room. Artemis took one look at Wally and burst out laughing. "I've wanted to do that all year! Ha!"

Wally grimaced and groaned, "You would…"

Uncomfortable, Grava started to walk off before Aqualad caught her arm. Glaring at the Atlantian, she tried to pull her arm out of his grasp but failed. "You have yet to finish explaining your powers to us, Gravatina."

With one final pull, she freed her arm then reached into her cloak to pull out a metal disk. "I guess I don't have a choice…"

The disk grew larger and larger until it was around the size of a trash can lid. Grava tossed the disk in front of her and before it hit the ground it glowed yellow and began to levitate. Robin and Wally, who apparently had recovered, both watched with grins plastered on their faces. "It's like a hoverboard!"

Grava nodded then jumped onto the disk. "It's powered by my abilities, so I can use it as transportation or as a weapon if need be."

"Awesome!"

As the rest of the team watched Grava do aerial maneuvers, Artemis looked back towards the place Wally had crashed into the wall. Cracks were spreading from the impact zone, causing Artemis to wonder. If Wally had really crashed that hard into the wall, he shouldn't have been just winded. In all reality he should have been out for the count. So why was he able to bounce around like the kid he was and try to ride Grava's disk without falling over?

Artemis looked closely at Grava, hoping somehow she could read the girl's intentions that way. She would've had a better chance trying to catch the Flash. Teammate or not, though Grava had started to trust the team, Artemis did not trust this new girl. Not one bit.

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><p>J'onn was watching the monitors in the main hallway of the cave when Batman called him. Bringing up a screen of the Caped Crusader, he addressed his comrade. "Greetings, Batman."<p>

"J'onn. How have things been going at the cave?"

"As well as can be expected with a new teammate."

"And how is _she_ doing?"

"She's reluctant to trust anyone right now, as should be expected from the experiences she revealed to me. Why do you ask?"

"I need to know when she's ready for missions," Batman responded but J'onn raised one of his large eyebrows. Batman wasn't known to be a very trusting teammate but he was more trusting than Grava.

"She won't be ready for some time. Her mental state is still too unstable."

Batman frowned. "He's moving too fast for us to just sit back and wait for her to completely trust the team, J'onn. Notify me when she's able to do missions."

"As you wish."

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><p><strong>Please review! It really helps with inspiration for the next chapter!<strong>

**Also, if you aren't too keen on reviewing, I have a blind poll going on on my profile page for some ideas for the next chapter. Thank you in advance, everyone!**


	5. Crazy Harbor

**Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a few weeks but school comes first not to mention the entire rethinking of my entire main character and antagonist(s). Just over Thanksgiving Break, I wrote 15 pages of backstory for Grava! And I'm not even close to being done with that yet...**

**Well, that being said, I decided to give you guys a longer chapter this time around (twice as much as I normally write for a chapter in Mentors!). Hope you all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All characters and terms created by DC belong to them. I only own my OCs.**

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><p>Mentors – Chapter 5<p>

It was a crummy day to be Gravatina Nova. Not only was she missing quite possibly the most important mission ever but she was stuck in a crazy place called Happy Harbor with absolutely nothing to occupy her time. She could have stayed in the cave but J'onn had insisted that she get out of the mountain, mingle with the populace, and explore Happy Harbor. It would have been a lot easier on Grava to cause the universe to spin backwards…

Even taking care of the huge weeds attacking five major cities across the world was more appealing than having everyone and their dog stare, whisper, and then point at her every ten steps. What had she done to intimidate them? Perhaps it was because of her strange appearance just like when she was on Telmar?

It was a shame Batman had forbidden her from going on the mission, for she craved to be anywhere but here. What did she have to do to prove to the ever skeptical human detective and vigilante that she was absolutely no threat to him or this primitive planet? Yes, Earth was far more advanced than Telmar but at least the cities were not full of noxious fumes expelled from four-wheeled beasts, which J'onn had called 'cars'.

It wasn't just the horrid 'cars' that annoyed Grava; it was the noise. It was a deafening cacophony of meaningless babble and incomprehensible sound that would have been entirely understandable if the volume was just short of a dull roar. However, since the noise level had yet to change at all in the past ten minutes, she had given up all hope of any peace and quiet. That is until she saw a side street off of the main road.

The Telmarine girl did not hesitate in the slightest and turned into the alleyway. Just the relief of some of the noise and stares caused her to relax, the guards on her mind slowly dropping as she leaned against one of the dirty alley walls. Without her bidding, her mind slowly wandered over her choices in the past week she'd been with the team.

She had taken an enormous risk trusting them with the knowledge of her main power. Most of them were proving themselves worthy of her trust so far but there were aspects about the team that still worried her. On the very top of that list was their leader, Aqualad. He was kind, understanding, loyal to a fault, and so similar to… No, she couldn't let her mind wander to _that_ man again; not the one who'd betrayed her and her sister.

A sharp ping snapped her out of her contemplations. She lazily looked around to find the source of the disturbance and saw a woman with dirty hair and wide eyes slowly backing away from her. Grava looked down at her feet and saw a blade bent double lying on the ground. The two observations made Grava turn back to the woman and narrow her eyes.

Images quickly flashed through her mind's eye. A starving family sitting near a garbage bin with dirt and mud encrusted in their old, torn clothes. A drunken man staggering through a gathering of people and swinging a club that crashed into anything or anyone around him. A woman struggled to escape two men who pinned her down as she was mercilessly beaten for not following a gang leader's orders.

Shaking away the remaining images, Grava looked at the trembling woman. "Murder and thievery is not the way to help support your family. Find honest work and break the relations between you and that gang as quickly as you can."

The woman's eyes grew so wide that Grava thought she might be able to fit one of the American silver dollar coins between the outstretched eyelids. The woman staggered backwards until she tripped over a metal pipe and landed hard on the ground. Grava sighed then walked over and offered the woman her hand.

She didn't expect the woman to take it, the fear in her eyes revealed that fact instantly, but the pain of being rejected again caused the Telmarine's heart to ache. Would she ever truly be accepted for who she was?

She pulled her hand away and trudged away from the still shaking woman. "Fine, be that way. I've been patient enough."

She was just about to leave the alley and return to the main street when she heard a scream behind her. She knew without turning around what was happening. The gang had come to collect the woman's stolen earnings and if she had none…

The Telmarine placed one gloved hand on the edge of a building, her heart torn with what she should do. She had no business in this woman's affairs, if the lady wanted to get tangled up in a never ending mass of pain, turmoil, and crime then who was she to stop her? She was just a foreign 'alien' visiting on this planet to find her lost sister. An outsider. A 'Troq' to these humanoids.

Still, the poor woman had no one who would defend her. She was easy prey for those stronger and with evil intent, just like Grava had been not too long ago. This unfortunate woman was lost and needed someone to lead her back onto the right path; the true path.

After making sure her hood was secure, Grava turned around. The woman was surrounded by thugs, both men and women alike. They were all better dressed than the poor lady and many of them sported tattoos and smelled of poisonous plants. One man stood directly over the woman and apart from the main group, apparently the leader of this gang. He looked so much like a common street thug that Grava almost mistook him for one of the gang leader's lackeys, except for the fact that everyone watched him with fear and reverence.

The leader held out his hand and a nearby thug handed him an open switchblade. With a twist, the leader placed the tip of the blade underneath the woman's chin, forcing her to meet his eyes or be pierced by the sharp blade. The man smiled, revealing stained teeth, and spat at the woman before speaking to his band.

"This is what we do to those who don't do as ordered… Hold 'er tight, boys."

Two men grabbed the woman's arms and pulled them behind her back until her hands were nearly touching the base of her neck. The man fingered the blade, testing its edge. A small line of blood appeared on the finger, a drop spilling onto the ground. The leader's grinned spread. "You should have stayed away from the Bloods."

Grava made her move. Three thugs went flying into the wall, causing two others to trip and hit their heads against a nearby large, open trash-bin. The leader stared wide-eyed at his followers before looking at Grava. His eyes narrowed and his eyebrows lowered into a 'v' as he growled, "If you know what's good for you, punk, you'll leave and forget what you saw here!"

"Oh, I'll leave… as soon as you get what you low-life's deserve."

Her hand shimmered with pale yellow light as she made a slashing motion, sending five thugs running into each other and falling to the ground. A few foolish boys made the mistake of charging her and each were sent flying into the open trash-bin for their blunder. Two men backed away and drew guns and Grava stopped to watch them. The leader grinned, trying to enforce a false sense of bravado to his beaten crew. "Not so tough when your life is on the line, huh?"

He nodded to one of the guys with a gun. The man aimed at Grava and fired. The bullet hit Grava and she didn't move. The two men shot her until they ran out of ammunition. Grava grinned and allowed the bullets she'd secretly stopped to fall to the ground, each one of them with no sign of having hit her body. The two gunmen stumbled back into each other and dropped their weapons as they fled, leaving their leader to face her alone.

The leader whirled around on his beaten gang. "What are lazy scuts doing? I pay you to beat anyone that comes into our territory and you dance around like drunks in front of some kid in a cape? I should kill you all where you lie!"

Grava looked up at the brazen leader. "Don't blame them for something they have no control over. They had no chance of being able to beat me even if they were as strong as Superman."

"And just who are you? You have no right to come traipsing into our alleys and getting your nose into our dealings!"

"Since you asked so nicely I'll tell you my name. I'm Grava Nova, the new protector of this city. Be grateful; you are the first to know of my presence here and are now the sole messenger that will spread my name, and the fear that goes rightfully with it, to all your low-life friends."

The man adjusted his scruffy navy blue sports jacket by pulling at the collar and then tightened his grip on the knife. "No one tells Johnny Flash what to do!"

He raised the knife over his head and charged. Grava stood still and waited until the last possible second before taking a step forward and dodging underneath his attack. Johnny spun around to attack again but stopped when he noticed that nothing was in his hand. He stared at Grava, who just pointed behind him.

Slowly, the gang leader turned around and saw his knife glowing and floating in midair. A whimper escaped from between his lips and he twisted around only to meet Grava's fist. 'Johnny Flash' was sent crashing into the wall beside three of his unconscious followers and gradually slumped down to join them in their stupor.

"Foolish kids… I gave you ample time to back down," she stated as she slowly shook her head. After making sure they were all unconscious or too dazed to do anything but stare at the sky or ground, Grava approached Johnny and pulled off his coat from his limp body. She scanned the group until she found another person with a well-worn but still usable coat and gently eased them out of it.

She tossed the last coat to the woman she'd saved, who was still sitting on the ground watching her rescuer in awe. The coat landed on her legs, breaking her away from her revere long enough to stare at it in confusion. Grava took that opportunity to speak to her, "That coat should have enough money within its pockets for your family to have food for a week. Go out and find an honest job so you won't have to be in danger like this again. I might not be able to save you next time, so be careful with what you choose to do and who you do business with from this day forward. Got it?"

She nodded dumbly then raced off deeper into the alleyways, clutching the jacket close to her chest. Grava sighed as she heard the tell-tale signs of the hard-headed gang slowly escaping their own personal oblivion. Without waiting for them to wake up, she went back down towards the main street and stopped long enough for her to take off her cloak and pull on the gang leader's jacket. It smelled horrid but it was better than the suspicious looking shroud when she was among the people of Happy Harbor.

A flash of sunlight caused her to look down and see a pair of dirty sunglasses lying next to a rusty garbage bin. She smiled; Lady Fortune must be smiling down on her today. Without a second thought, she picked up the glasses, put them on, folded up the cloak so it was concealed securely underneath the jacket, and stepped out onto the crowded and obnoxiously loud main street of Happy Harbor.

With a smile etched across her features, she headed back towards Mount Justice. Perhaps being stuck in Happy Harbor on planet Earth wasn't as bad as she had first judged.

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><p><strong>Did you guys notice the Teen Titan's term I put in there? If you didn't, you probably will notice it if you've watched all the episodes and observed the titles.<strong>

**As always, I truly enjoy constructive reviews and I thank you for taking the time to read my humble story.**


	6. A Reason to Join Forces

**Hello faithful readers and reviewers! I hope you're ready for this next installment of Mentors because it's going to send you spinning on a wheel of frustration that this chapter ended in a cliffhanger (again) and finally ending up with the customary response of "WHEN IS THE NEXT CHAPTER COMING?"**

**Never fear, I'm finally on Winter Break and have time to address your growing need of Fanfiction to occupy the time you would have spent in school. As such, I will most likely be able to update quicker, depending on if my muse remains with me or not. You can't predict when it will suddenly leave you with a massive wall in front of your face! AKA Writer's Block**

**As always, I enjoy your reviews, look forward to constructive criticism on my work, and I thank you in advance. And of course:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, I only own my OCs. Any OC that has the name of an actual DC character was not intended to copy that character's name or abilities.**

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><p>Mentors - Chapter 6<p>

Grava waited in the main room of Mount Justice, having just returned from exploring the city. Thankfully, she hadn't had any problems walking back from Happy Harbor. No robberies, no crimes, and especially no retaliatory attacks from the gang she'd thrashed.

She'd had a lot of time to think over her actions on the way to her current dwelling. Most of her thoughts were consumed with how to better protect the city if she wasn't always around. The rest of her mind was marveling over the fact that she had enjoyed doing a kind deed to help a complete stranger and expected nothing in return for her services.

Perhaps this is why those teens did those 'covert missions' for the Justice League. Maybe the thought of helping someone even though they don't necessarily know the benefactor was worth the constant hours of training and having the Justice League watching over their shoulder. It certainly had felt good giving "Johnny" a good trouncing…

She glanced down at her procured coat and wrinkled her nose. Between the stench of those 'cars' and the coat, Grava would breath the fumes of those wheeled transports any day if it meant she could burn the jacket at that very second. However, the sudden charging of the zeta beam ended those fiery thoughts as her teammates walked in.

They were all high-fiving each other and generally doing whatever human friends did to congratulate each other. They didn't even notice Grava until she spoke.

"Welcome back. From your current display, I assume your mission was a success."

Many of the team openly stared at her until Wally, pain apparently clouding his thoughts due to his injured arm, stated, "Wow… You look amazingly beautiful…"

Grava frowned then began to turn away until a firm, webbed hand grabbed her arm. It took every bit of self-control for her not to punch the living daylights out of her 'leader'. Even so, her hands slowly curled into fists, as if anticipating some sort of battle soon to come. When Aqualad's hand didn't let go she gradually turned her head until she could glare over her new sunglasses.

She took a deep breath before she growled, "Let go before I make you regret having arms…"

Aqualad didn't appear to be phased but he did pause before he responded, "Then please stay here with us, at least for a time."

Her lip curved into a grimace as she jerked her arm out of his grip. "Five minutes. Try and keep me here longer and I will follow through with my previous threat."

The tension and silence that followed could have been broken with the dropping of a wooden pencil. Instead, of a writing utensil falling, Robin coughed into his hand then asked, "So… Nice change of costume. Civilian camoflague?"

Grava nodded as she shrugged off the navy sport jacket and returned her cloak to its rightful place upon her back. She was about to draw up her hood but thought better of it and merely removed her sunglasses. It was the first time she'd faced the team without her hood over her head and each of the team members respectfully remained silent. Their stillness startled the girl. Did they actually see her as an ally even though she'd done everything to shove them far away?

The Telmarine looked at each one of them, hoping to find answers with their gaze. Aqualad, quiet and firm, the best option for a leader among the teens before her but so similar to… _him._ Robin, the clever mini-Batman and expert hacker, if the kid could be more of a team player he'd fit perfectly with the group. Wally, aka Kid Flash, the boy that was a hyper, little ball of energy that ran his annoying mouth as fast as could run on the ground. Miss Martian, the alien who had immediately accepted the 'newcomer' and given a total stranger a heart-warming welcome and absolute trust.

When Grava turned to Artemis she stopped. The blond teen was glaring at Grava through her green mask, almost daring the Telmarine to say something to give her a reason to knock her down right then and there. Grava blinked then suddenly a small, almost insignificant thought came into her mind. Artemis was wounded, shielded, and just as defensive as Grava herself. Perhaps instead of remaining steel to her flint and creating sparks among the team, she could… merge with them.

Perhaps they could help her find her sister! Grava cynically threw that idea away. They'd sooner please their own mentors than help a complete stranger who'd been nothing but over-sensitive around them. Even if they did decide to help, they'd want to know about her past and why she needed to desperately get away from this 'team' and begin searching. She could tell them her need to search, but those dark memories were something Grava had vowed she would never speak of again; and she was determined to keep at least that promise.

Steeling herself for a torrent of conflict, Grava decided to take the path of least resistance that wouldn't require her to speak of her background. She needed this team's trust at least so that the Justice League could at least see she was serious about finding her sister. Perhaps in time she'd truly and completely trust them just as her sister did with her.

Biting down on her pride, she spoke looking straight at Artemis the whole time.

"I realize I haven't been the best of potential teammates this last week-"

Artemis huffed, crossed her arms, and shifted most of her weight onto her left foot. Grava paused for a moment, waiting for a biting comment that thankfully never came. "But I would like to start afresh with all of you. What I'm trying to say is… I'm sorry I've been so edgy. I guess I was just so used to rejection that I assumed you'd turn aside from me as well. I was wrong. I realize that now. I hope that next time you go on a mission that I will be a companion that you can count on at least to protect your back."

Aqualad looked at Grava closely before he gave her a comforting smile. "I'm sure that you will be a marvelous addition, Grava. I hope you'll be able to count on us to cover your back as well."

Grava forced herself to at least give Aqualad a small smile, even though she was cringing inside. Her stomach twisted. How could she not trust Aqualad? He wasn't _him_; he just looked a lot like _him_. It was completely illogical that she blamed and doubted Aqualad just because he looked like someone from her dark past. So why did she get this overwhelming feeling of something like dread when he looked at her?

Shaking aside the thought she turned to look at the rest of the team, who had begun talking excitedly now that she was willing to work with them. As they all seemed preoccupied, Grava drew up her hood and silently walked down towards her room. She was nearly halfway down the hall when a hard voice stopped her. "You must be pretty smug right now thinking you've tricked the team into thinking you suddenly had a change of heart. I don't buy you're act for a second! What's the real reason you're here? You at least owe them that, you foxy alien!"

Grava slowly turn her head, holding back the urge to send her challenger straight into a wall. The girl wore a familiar hunter's green uniform with a yellow arrowhead on the chest. It was Miss Secretive Past herself, Artemis.

"I didn't have a sudden change of heart. I merely saw that there was no substantial reason as to why I should at least try to work with you and the team. I'm stuck here anyway."

"What? So you can't get home? Big deal! That still doesn't explain why you're here! JL could've sent you back home as quick as you got here!"

Grava bit her lip. Artemis was as sharp and fast as the arrows she shot. It would be a pain trying to talk her way out of this even if Artemis trusted her. She could lie but then she'd just dig herself a deeper mess of trouble later on. No, she'd have to tell her at least part of the truth.

"Listen, Artemis. I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you why I'm here if you promise to never reveal it to the team unless I say so."

"Why should I keep it from the team?"

"Because if you don't I'll tell the team **all** your secrets faster than you can fire an arrow from that bow of yours."

Artemis paled then narrowed her eyes. "There's no way you could do that!"

"And why couldn't I? Admit it, Artemis you don't truly know what all I can do, do you?"

Artemis scowled then slowly shook her head. "Fine. You have a deal, Grava."

Grava observed Artemis for at least two minutes before finally nodding in acceptance. "Shake on it. I know your race is better bonded through writing but we neither have the time or patience to go through that annoyance at this moment. Agreed?"

Grava held out her right hand to the archer who hesitantly took it.

"Agreed."

"Very well then. The answer to your question is twofold. I'm here to find and rescue my sister and to also annihilate a certain man who currently dwells on this planet."

Grava quickly spun around and walked away, leaving a stunned Artemis holding her hand up in empty air.

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><p>Wonder Woman trudged through a blizzard up in Northern Canada, her face grim. Batman had sent her up to this frozen wasteland to check on a 'disturbance' which had appeared right after the worldwide plant attack. So engrossed with her thoughts, she nearly slipped on a patch of ice.<p>

"By Hera! If this is a wild goose chase, then so help me I'm going to punch that Caped Crusader all the way up into the Watchtower!"

After navigating her way past the ice, which had turned out to be the beginnings of a glacier, she descended into a low valley. Bringing up a small League tracing system, she determined the site of the disturbance to be near one of the valley walls closer towards the crashing waves of the Arctic Ocean. Thankfully, the valley walls cut off a majority of the snowstorm, allowing the heroine to see farther down the small gorge and spot what looked to be a large metallic cylinder. Upon closer inspection, the cylinder appeared to be some sort of emergence space pod with its doors bent inward.

"Something must have hit it or someone tried to get in…"

She was just about to report to Batman when the doors were shot off their hinges and sent high up into the air until they disappeared in the white veil of snow above. Steam billowed out of the container as a dark, shadowy hand emerged outstretched from within.

Wonder Woman shifted into a battle stance and waited. Her instincts told her that whoever or whatever was in that pod was not an ally. The hand gripped the edge of the pod and turned white with exertion until another arm hooked its way around the edge. In a matter of minutes, a boy with black hair and wearing a white, two-piece space suit tumbled into the snow.

Diana relaxed slightly. It was only a youth and probably some other traveler who'd gotten caught in a recent meteor shower. She was about to go offer her assistance when the foreboding feeling raced through her again. She turned towards the boy and was immediately caught in his gaze. He had blood red eyes.

Without warning something slammed into Wonder Woman's mind and she collapsed into the snow, instantly unconscious. The boy slowly picked himself up and proceeded to casually brush off the snow that had attached itself to his suit. He looked down at the oblivious League member with an evil grin. "My humble apology for razing your mind, Miss Diana, but it was necessary. I needed information on where my quarry is hiding and this is not a matter that can allow any… distractions with your little organization. No, I, Mind Stormer, have no time to bandy about with the numerous and pitiful rules of your meaningless planet. I have two experiments to find and destroy…"

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><p><strong>So will Grava finally begin to work <span>with<span> the team? Will Artemis get over her shock that Grava actually answered a question? And who in the world is this 'Mind Stormer' kid?**

**All these questions and more will be answered as you continue reading 'Mentors'! Hope you enjoyed!**


	7. Inevitable Signs

**Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the encouraging reviews, favorite adds, and adding this story on your Alert list! You all have no idea how much it bolsters this writer's muse and confidence!**

**Hope you all are ready for the next section of Mentors and hope you enjoy it as much as the last post!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Young Justice or DC. I own only my OCs.**

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><p>Mentors - Chapter 7<p>

"Alright everyone," Aqualad began, directing his words to the four other teens standing before him in the training room. The luminescent lights were a dim off-white, giving the room an ominous feeling and all of the teens were fidgeting nervously because of it.

Robin was tapping one of his crossed arms impatiently, looking as if he wanted to do his signature disappearing act any second. Miss Martian was glancing around the group wondering what each of the others was thinking but not daring to intrude on their private thoughts again. Artemis kept glaring up at the light, as if by doing so it would immediately give off more of its waning glow. Superboy was well… being Superboy.

Kalder's skin was almost a sickly brown in the light, giving them the impression he was only minutes away from heading to the pool and getting some much needed oxygen. While the pool run might have been an exaggeration, the Atlantian did look like he did not want to be discussing whatever he was about to say next.

"I realize that you all are tired and wish to return home but we must talk about a certain subject before we depart. Namely Grava. I wish to know how she is progressing in her studies with us. Robin, Artemis, will you please begin?"

"She's doing remarkable well with her hand-to-hand combat and acrobatics though of course she's not as good as yours truly," the Boy Wonder replied with a smirk. "We've gone through the majority of the basic attack styles and how they're countered. The only problem we've been running into is that she holds back during training and she's extremely tense when sparring with either Artemis or me."

"You ask me, I think she acts like she's too good to fight us full on…"

"Woah, Artemis! Don't you think that was a bit harsh?"

"Well? If it's true, it's true."

Robin was about to counter but closed his mouth, silently agreeing with Artemis but not verbally admitting the archer had hit the mark spot on. Kalder simply nodded then turned to Superboy.

The hard blue eyes locked with Aqualad as Superboy reported his portion of Grava's training.

"Whatever those two had a problem with is not an issue when Grava's sparring with us. Even when she's not using her powers, she has Wally hitting the floor or wall every time. I'm still able to get a few hits in every training session but she's starting to get better at her defense. We might have to ask Canary to help us out one of these days so we can give her a bigger challenge."

If Kalder was surprised that Conner spoke more than ten words, he didn't show it. Instead, he looked at Miss Martian as he gave the team his report.

"Grava is skilled in the areas of using her powers in different forms, however… She has been reluctant to show us anything larger than a barrage of gravity bolts. She shown us many small usages of her power but has avoided showing us her true power as of yet. I may have to ask Martian Manhunter for assistance"

Robin waited until Kalder finished before he piped up. "Well now that that's out of the way, why don't you get to the real reason we wanted to talk?

Every turned to Kalder both quizzically and eager to learn more about their new teammate. Well, almost everyone.

"Shouldn't we talk about her when she's here so we don't go into something private?" Miss Martian asked. She was just as curious as everyone else, but ever since she'd shown Grava the Bioship she'd avoided talking about the girl's past; a past which, judging from Grava's reactions, had been a cruel one.

"But what if it's something that might put the team in danger? Like Tornado's siblings!" Connor retorted angrily.

Kalder held up his hands and stopped the growing debate before it began. "We will not discuss Grava's past until she wishes to tell us and not before, unless it will put the team in life-threatening danger. Until then, we will not approach this subject again. Understood?"

The force behind his words left no room to debate. Each one agreed though Artemis agreed somewhat reluctantly. Once they had consented, Kalder ended the meeting and they separated; each one either heading home or to their rooms in Mount Justice. Kalder remained in the training room, quietly going over each report in his mind and trying to find a solution to the troubles the team was facing as Grava's mentors.

Only two solutions presented themselves and even then Kalder searched for an alternate answer but to no avail. The only way they would know the true scope of Grava's power and have her go full out against an opponent, was if she was in an actual situation where she would be required to do so to survive. That meant they would have to allow Grava to go straight to a mission simulation - which might not give the desired result - or take a risk and permit her on an actual mission.

Shaking his head, Kalder walked towards the zeta beams. He would tell both J'onn and Black Canary of his thoughts tomorrow after he'd given the matter a night of rest. By then, maybe he'd find some other way to solve the problem named Grava.

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><p>Grava made it a point to check up on Wally after he'd come back to the mountain with a broken arm. She'd heard from J'onn that interacting with teammates especially when they were hurt, boosted camaraderie and she needed all she could get right now. Nevertheless, she shouldn't have even bothered trying with Wally. The moment she stepped in, she saw Wally leaning back in an infirmary bed and milking his injury for all he was worth.<p>

Captain Marvel, who'd been hanging around the Mountain for a while, was bringing snacks of all kinds to the fiery-haired speedster. Currently, a plate of steaming hot nachos was being placed in front of the teen as he rubbed his hands in anticipation. As to be expected from 'Kid' Flash, the boy's eyes were more fixated on the food than either his injury or concerned teammate.

Grava looked on in disgust. Trust an adolescent to get whatever they wanted just because of, most likely, a simple fracture. Here she was trying to do the right actions by being a concerned friend, only to find out that she would be ignored and then Captain Marvel had utterly demolished any sense of respect Grava had given him by stooping so low as to become Wally's personal servant.

She didn't even stay to say hello; she just left. There were more productive matters she could attend to than watching Kid Flash inhaled every single article of edible objects in Mount Justice's large provisions.

She blindly strode through hallways until she found herself on a platform leading to the small flat peak of the mountain. She didn't even hesitate to open the extremely thick blast door to begin walking into the open air. Hope for a peaceful moment, nearly thrust her out the door. Nearly…

She had just taken a step into the cool mountaintop air when something brushed against her mind. Purely out of instinct, Grava stiffened and brought up her mental guards. A telepath must have been near and it wasn't J'onn or M'gann. Their psychic presences were comforting and patient. No, this mental presence was fierce and malicious; aiming to steal and destroy.

With a small portion of her power, she shut the door, rammed the bolts back into their places, and went straight to J'onn's room at a quick run. The Martian was meditating when she entered in a flurry. He merely motioned for her to take a seat across from him, apparently having sensed her company before she'd even arrived.

"What seems to have disturbed you, Grava?" The Martian Manhunter asked in his somewhat melodiously, deep voice.

Grava took a breath and explained what had happened, slightly curious as to why she needed to explain what she observed to an extremely competent telepath of the presence of another being with similar mental abilities. The news caused J'onn to open his eyes and look straight into Grava's bright gold eyes.

"You are absolutely sure of this?"

A simple nod was all she gave, but it was enough. Without waiting for J'onn to confirm it, she knew what his search would result in. Her enemies were on the move and were getting closer to finding her new home. She needed to move even faster now to find her sister before they captured her. Or worse...

'Sister, hold on. I'll find you so just hold on…'

Grava opened her eyes, not realizing she'd closed them as she tried to mentally communicate with her sister for the umpteenth time but receiving no reply in return. She shouldn't have even gone through the effort. In comparison to Manhunter's skill, her telepathic range was pathetically small, barely reaching to the end of a regular human living room. Her sister wasn't even telepathic so she wouldn't be able to respond unless Grava was nearby and had initiated the conversation.

She was so caught up in her depressive thoughts that she didn't realize that J'onn had been looking at her intently for the past few moments of tense silence. She blinked then turned her face away. "Please alert the League that my enemies have arrived on Earth. We most likely will not have much time before they decide to 'test the waters'."

J'onn nodded but his gaze suggested that he knew that was not what had been on her mind. That fact was confirmed by his next question.

"Are you anxious about your sister's well-being, Grava?"

Grava rose, suddenly uncomfortable and impatient. "Of course I'm worried! And all this inactivity is making me go insane! Going out yesterday alleviated some stress but it's building, J'onn. If I stay cooped up with nothing but training to do, I think I'd destroy the mountain just so I could go out and search for Sa-"

She stopped herself, not fully understanding why she did so. J'onn knew about her sister and what had happened to both of them on Telmarine before she traveled to Earth. Perhaps she just didn't want to go through the mental pain again. Yes, she'd go with that just so she wouldn't have to dwell on the matter.

She turned away from J'onn and headed for the door, her business with the mind-reader concluded. Or at least she thought that was so. Today was ever the day for the unexpected and inconvinent to occur.

"Grava. The League will find your sister."

"No offense, J'onn, but by the time they find her, she would be dead by _his_ wicked hands…"

Her hand was about to touch the door's keypad when the Martian stopped her again. "Grava, there is one question I've wanted to ask you for quite a while now. Would you be able to answer it?"

"You know that depends upon the question."

"Yes, I understand that."

Grava took another deep breath then turned her head enough so she could look sidelong at the green-skinned shape-shifter. "Well? What's your burning question?"

"You keep referring to a 'him' throughout the memories you've shared with me and whenever you talk about your past. Does this man have a name?"

Silence engulfed the room after the inquiry and neither person dared to fill the emptiness with words. Finally, just as the Martian Manhunter was about to dismiss the issue altogether, Grava responded.

It was one word. Though it was muttered so softly a normal person couldn't hear it and it was spoken in a foreign language, J'onn heard and understood it perfectly.

Metus.

Fear.

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><p><strong>Until the next update, faithful readers! Hope you all have a Happy New Year!<strong>


	8. First Moves

**Alright everyone, I will continue to try and give you weekly updates but school's back and that takes priority over writing. So if I am not able to update as quickly, now you know why though I hope you will stay with this story until it has reached its ending.**

**Thank you to everyone who's reading this story and hopefully enjoying it! PM me if you have any suggestions and who knows, they might be put in this story!**

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Young Justice or anything DC. I own merely my OCs. If you do not know the OCs, a list can and will be provided.**

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><p>Mentors – Chapter 8<p>

A boy with black hair and wearing a white space jumpsuit strode boldly into a dark warehouse, knocking out guards as if they nothing but leaves on a tree. His red eyes revealed nothing as he dragged a large container with him through the warehouse and into the sublevels. Nothing and no one would stop him from his goal.

Finally, after demolishing most of the doors of the second-to-last sublevel he found who he was looking for. He didn't necessarily see the man's face, but that was typical. He merely saw the dark outline of a man sitting in front of a large computer terminal and tapping away at keys as he wrote some diabolical outline for a new plan. The man at the computer didn't even acknowledge the boy until he finished the outline, checked it over, and then saved the file for later use.

Sighing deeply and leaning back into his chair, the man spoke in an icy yet soothing voice. "Mind Stormer… Took your time in finding me I see."

"Master, I apologize for the delay. Due to the Gravan's abilities, I was unable to reach the surface of this planet until recently but I have made up for the lost time."

"Really? Explain."

Mind Stormer smiled then brought the container before his Master. "I've already apprehended one of the experiments. Seems she was knocked unconscious by a meteor after our last fight and hasn't awoken since. It took no time at all to find her, since all I had to do was track the last known trajectory of this pod then account for any abnormalities."

The boy's Master almost purred in satisfaction. "Good… Has your partner woken yet? If so, has he found the location of the Gravan?"

"I have received no reports yet, Master, but I am certain that my other half is hard at work and will report as soon as possible."

"Very well. Take the experiment down to the lowest sublevel and place her in room S601. I will attend her when time allows. After you are finished with that, join your partner and find the Gravan. Be sure to report back as soon as you've verified her location. Do not engage her until I give you the command. If you disobey, I need not say what will happen to you."

"Of course, Master Metus. It shall be done as you command…"

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><p>She awoke to cold, unfeeling darkness. Tentatively, she started to move her body from the stiff position it had been in for an unknown amount of time. Her muscles and bones ached from the movements they had forgotten were possible until finally they awoke from their slumber as well. She could see nothing even with her eyes open and one of her hands in front of her face.<p>

Questions flooded through the girl's mind as she carefully maneuvered her body to sit upright. Where was she? Had she survived and landed on Earth? And where was-

'Sister, hold on… I'll find you so please hold… on…'

The girl almost leaped to her feet as soon as she heard the message. It was Tina! She must have been close if she heard the telepathic message!

Just as swiftly as she had begun to hope, doubt trickled in. The message had been extremely faint and faded away at the end. Either she had been wishfully imagining Tina talking to her or her sister was searching in the wrong direction and had flown out of range. Either way, after waiting for what seemed like ages, Tina did not appear.

The girl sunk back down to the freezing floor in despair. She was alone with the impenetrable darkness once again. Slowly, almost reluctantly, she embraced the darkness and allowed it to engulf her mind, drawing her into blissful oblivion…

She had awoken with darkness then sought sanctuary with darkness, but was completely oblivious to the Light closing in around her.

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><p>Grava shot out of bed breathing hard and her powers fluctuating wildly, causing her few possessions to dance around the room. Gradually she was able to calm down but she was still confused and very frightened.<p>

Why? Why did that dream have to plague her every night? Hadn't she suffered enough?

She shook her head, trying to shake off the lingering effects of too little sleep, but to no avail. She'd have to face the day with just enough sleep to get her body moving. Her body groaning with every move, Grava pulled on her cloak then walked out to face her teammates.

She barely paid attention to the combat practice with the team overseen by Black Canary. She did what was required of her and that was it. She had no motivation to go full out with them even if they begged or tried to force her to today. It was the arrival of Batman that caused her to snap out of her daze.

"Team, you have a mission."

All of the team, excluding Grava, headed towards the edge of the training room where the computer terminal laid waiting. Batman turned to the sole Telmarine, "Are you going to join us?"

It wasn't a question, Grava mused; it was a command. Wordlessly, she joined the team, giving those who welcomed her among them a small smile in gratitude. Only Artemis didn't welcome Grava, but that was to be expected. Batman cleared his throat and the entire team drew their attention back to the Caped Crusader.

"A ship carrying a shipment of Cobra Venom has been attack. We don't know by whom or the reasons behind the attack. What we do know is that the crew is composed entirely of drug smugglers and at least half the cargo is illegal drugs.

"Your mission is to locate that ship, obtain or destroy the Cobra Venom, and bring the ship to the nearest port where the authorities will be waiting. As you are a covert ops squad, it is essential that you are not spotted once the ship reaches port.

"Also, this is a test mission to see if Grava is ready to join your ranks. Should this mission fail due to Grava's mistakes, she will no longer be part of this team."

Everyone was shocked at the statement, though some recovered rather quickly. Wally, of course, was the first to cry foul. "Hey! She just joined us!"

"And don't you think it's a little unfair to put so much pressure on the first mission?"

To Grava's surprise, it was Artemis who confronted Batman with her fiery question. Batman didn't even look like he'd heard the remarks as he gave his flat reply. "She knows why she gets only one chance at this."

All eyes turned to Grava, whose eyes were closed. Opening her now glowing eyes, she looked up at the Caped Crusader. "I understand but the threat was unnecessary. I have too much to lose already if I fail this test."

He regarded her coolly then walked through the team and to the zeta tubes. "Your mission begins at 1700. Until then, prepare."

At 4:53 PM...

Grava fiddled with a loose arm bracer as the whole team sat waiting in their designated positions. They were split into three groups, two groups of two and one with three members. For some reason, Grava had been paired with Aqualad and Miss Martian. Just her luck…

It wasn't that she hated the two, she merely was uneasy around them. The reasons were fairly simple. She was hesitant around Aqualad because of his resemblance to _him_ and recluse to Miss Martian due to her perky, happy-go-lucky attitude. Normally, matters like this wouldn't even hold her attention but after Batman's ultimatum, one small matter could cause the whole mission to go up in flames.

She couldn't risk failing this mission. If she didn't secure her position on this team, Batman would most likely call off the search for her sister. She needed the resources of the Justice League if her goals were to be even remotely possible.

Her stomachs began to twist, all thirteen of them at once. Without even realizing it, she loosened her forearm bracer then secured it three times in the space of a minute, drawing a concerned glance from her Atlantean leader.

"Don't worry about this mission, Grava. We will do our upmost to ensure the success of the mission."

Stilling her hands, Grava looked through one of the bioship windows. "No offense, Aqualad, but I have bigger things to worry about than this simple mission."

Eyebrows would have been raised if Kalder had any. The clock on the bioship's front panel drew all three's attention when it switched from 4:58 to 4:59.

"Miss Martian," Aqualad stated as he rose from his seat. "Please establish a telepathic link."

"_Done."_

"_Teams, report it."_

"_Team 3, in position."_

"_Team 2, ready to go."_

Aqualad turned to the two girls and waited for them to nod. _"Team 1 is ready. Commence mission."_

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><p><strong>Hope you all are enjoying the story because now the action is finally going to start! If you are enjoying this, please take a moment to review my work. Even if it's suggestions on how to write this type of story for future reference, I will gratefully accept any suggestions and comments on my work (excluding FLAMES of course. I reserve the right to remove a review that is nothing but personal attacks and has no relivance to my writing).<strong>

**Until next time! ~Aurora Shadowglen**


	9. A Simple Mission

**Hello everyone! Here's the newest installment of Mentors and I hope you enjoy! **

**I will try to update this story on a weekly basis but this is a hobby so school comes first. So please bear with me, I will be continuing this story until it reaches its finale.**

**So, sit back and enjoy the action!**

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><p>Mentors – Chapter 9<p>

The evening was pleasant enough for those on the _Misty Marie._ Final preparations had already begun since they were to make port in no more than two hours if the weather continued to hold. Many of the sailors were already dreaming about their future activities later that night, so none of them noticed a small glowing orb floating just above the deck suddenly appear in their midst.

No one was ready for the unexpected.

The yellow orb exploded, sending an invisible power out all across the deck. All the crewmen on deck were sent flying into the metal deck rails, many of them falling unconscious upon impact. Only the odd dazed crewmen saw a cloaked person drop to the deck out of nowhere and casually scan the deck.

Grava couldn't help but smile at her handiwork. It felt good to be using her power instead of always keeping it contained. Concentrating slightly, she sent a telepathic message to the team using Miss Martian's link.

"_Deck has been cleared. There are possibly ten other crewmen on their way up the stairs. I'll take care of them."_

"_Wait for us to arrive before you engage, Grava." _

Aqualad's command annoyed Grava to no end. She could beat these 'sleaze-balls', as the humans said, anytime and anyplace. Sighing, she stood up and waited for the others to emerge before she shoved the front two crewmen racing up the stairs straight back into their mates.

"_Teams 2 and 3, locate and dispose of the Cobra Venom. The rest of use shall keep the crew busy._"

Aqualad had barely finished giving his orders when both Wally and Robin disappeared from beside the team at exactly the same time. Superboy smashed a huge hole into the deck and jumped down, followed shortly by Artemis.

"_To the bridge, we need to take control of this vessel."_

Grava was already flying in that direction before Aqualad and Miss Martian had even started moving. "_There's no need for all of us to go to the bridge. I'll secure it."_

"Grava, wait!"

Aqualad's shout fell on deaf ears as Grava flew away to the bridge of the ship. "Miss Martian, go and back up Grava."

Grava didn't say anything when M'gann caught up with her. As long as the Martian didn't get in her way, Grava couldn't care less if M'gann came with her not. She would have preferred another person fighting alongside her, but that would have to wait for a little while longer.

There was only one man in the bridge when Grava and Miss Martian arrived, thought there was an open door leading down into the ship. A swift punch to the stomach from Grava knocked him out cold as Miss Martian checked the area for more guards or crew. She shook her head, there was no one around.

Grava glanced around the small cabin uneasily. There was someone here, she could feel it but for some reason M'gann couldn't. They were cornered in the confined space unless…

"_M'gann! Get out of the bridge now!"_

"_But Grava!"_

"_Go!"_

Miss Martian flew out of the bridge as fast as she and Grava had entered just before the whole structure blew apart. Once the dust and debris had settled, Grava appeared her arms outstretched but slowly falling back to her sides. One other figure appeared opposing Grava. It was some sort of humanoid robot but unlike anything the Telmarine had seen before.

It had one glowing red eye and, instead of hands, both its forearms were long, curved blades. It regarded both girls as if trying to decide if they were worth being called targets or haybails. Grava didn't even give the robot the chance. In one ferocious attack she slammed a fist into robot's single eye and crushed it with a sweep of her hand.

She was about to investigate the robot further when she felt a rush of air. Whirling around, she saw Miss Martian telekinetically shove another robot over the side before it could bring down its blade. Grava nodded to M'gann in thanks before sending two bolts of gravity into boxes of cargo lining the side of the ship. The demolished parts of three robots fell to the ground leaving only one whole robot left to face the two girls.

It stood alone on the deck, analyzing its options, and once it came to a conclusion it did not hesitate. It rushed the two with both blades raised. Grava and Miss Martian acted as one.

The arms of the robot were ripped from its body and thrust into its one red eye. Grava raised an eyebrow at the Martian. _"I wasn't expecting that type of reaction from you. You're alright, M'gann."_

M'gann almost blushed but was given no time to respond to the compliment as Grava had begun to fly towards Aqualad's last known position.

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><p>Aqualad was having his own troubles with the robots, not because they were hard to defeat, but because there were at least 20 of them attacking him. He back-flipped away, trying to get some distance but a robot kicked him in the back just as he went up into the air. He was sent sailing straight to two other robots, both with their sword-like hands extended and ready to attack him.<p>

However, before they even reached him, he stopped in midair, causing his neck to jerk unnaturally, and was gently placed back onto the deck. When his neck had recovered, he looked up to see Grava and Miss Martian finishing the last of the robots on deck. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing he saw.

A shadow loomed over Grava silently closing the distance between itself and the Telmarine's back. Aqualad's mouth suddenly went dry and his mind fumbled to try and focus enough to use Miss Martian's telepathic link, but it was too late. An enormous fist rose above the girl's hooded head then swiftly began to descend.

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><p>Grava barely managed to dodge the ridiculously large fist as the last second but the shockwave from the impact between the fist and the deck sent her skimming across the deck and right into a pile of destroyed robot parts. Disgusted with herself for not sensing the threat before it had struck, Grava shoved metal parts out of the way so she could rise, but quickly thought better of it.<p>

The whole team, except Superboy, was now on deck fighting her assailant. As many times as she'd practiced with them, she still wasn't comfortable with their all out brawl-like style of fighting. Instead, she crouched among the metallic robot pieces observing the fight with trained and experienced eyes.

The opponent obtained an unnatural amount of muscle mass that looked comical with the miniature size of the head. Even the opponent's legs were not proportional with the rest of its body, though the thighs were unnaturally large. She classified it as humanoid but there were some small facts that caused her to believe it was also cybernetic.

Two thick tubes ran from its back down to its forearms, carrying some sort of fluid down. Perhaps that was this opponent's secret weakness. Her hypothesis grew in certainty by the way the 'thing', for lack of a better term, attacked and dodged the team's attacks so that the two tubes would remain undamaged.

She waited and watched the battle slowly grow in intensity and desperation as her teammates began to run out of energy and tactics. Then, just as the 'thing' raised both of its fists to try and finish off her teammates, Grava attacked.

A gravity bolt to the brute's oversized chest sent it staggering back a couple of paces. Another bolt to the head sent it to its knees. One final bolt sent all of the air in the muscle-head's lungs rushing out in a loud 'whoosh'. A familiar rush of energy poured into Grava's body as she leaped into the air and sent a glowing fist right towards the muscleman's exposed back.

Had the brute not recovered enough breath to sit up partially, Grava would have given him a crippling blow. As it was, Grava's blow slammed right into one of the tubes on the muscleman's arms hard enough to completely destroy the tube and send a foul green liquid spewing all across the deck.

Thankfully only a small portion of the liquid splattered onto Grava's costume but the chemical burned her enough to cause her to lose the ferocity she once had. One whole side of the man's muscles deflated to reveal a pathetically skinny figure. Then, without warning, the remaining tube was cut and the rest of the muscles quickly disappeared as fast as the first set.

Kid Flash grinned widely from behind their former enemy; holding up one of the robot's severed arms. "Souvenir!"

Grava couldn't help but smile at the speedster's audacity before her world instantly went black.

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><p>A boy sat on the edge of a cliff looking down at the slowly moving ship, the <em>Misty Marie<em>, below him. He wore a black, punk-like clothes and his white hair was gelled to stick up in randomly placed spikes. Yawning, the boy leaned back and gave himself a pat on the back. "No body or mind can stop me, Ravager, when I've gotta job to do!"

"But you conveniently forgot that we were not supposed to make any contact with the experiment, casual or hostile, without Master's consent, brother."

Ravager whirled around and glared at the newcomer. "Hey, Stormer… Why'd you hafta show up and ruin the party?"

Mind Stormer walked up and looked down at his 'brother'. "Because, Ravager, if I hadn't you would have made the poor experiment use up too much power and limit the amount that she'd be able to provide for Master Metus. Then we'd have to explain to him why we did such a thing before he decided to punish us twice over for your blatant disobedience."

Ravager grimaced and looked away. "Master this! Master that! You sound like one of Metus' robot servants! Look I was just given the experiment some much needed rest while I nabbed the location of her new base. 'kay? "

"Your methods are so unrefined it's a wonder we're even related."

"Yeah! Yeah! Keep on thinkin' that while I keep on gettin' all Metus' praise for getting my part of the bargain done. On. Time."

Mind Stormer's lips turned into a snarl and he strode off, "Just get back to the lab with that location ASAP. Otherwise, I'll just take it from you."

"In your dreams, brother," Ravager muttered as she watched the little humans crowded around the fallen experiment. "Only in your dreams."


	10. Emergance of Enemies

**AT LONG LAST! Finally my muse decides to speak again for this story! Apparently it (my muse) had more fun building the hardest wall in the world to demolish than helping me... ****Not amusing in the slightest for me...**

**Well, now this story can finally progress. I'm thinking there are only 6-7 chapters max left for this story. A big THANK YOU to all my reviewers and readers for being patient with me!**

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><p>Mentors - Chapter 10<p>

She was drifting though an eternity of nothingness when the vivid memories and horrible nightmares assailed her. The time when she was experimented on, the long recovery after the lab accident, and her rage consuming her as she mercilessly used her powers to try and destroy her once creator.

She would have her vengeance for what he did and took from her. Doubly, because of what he'd done to a mere child as well.

Heat filled her, bringing her body and mind slowly back to the realm of the conscious. Though part of her wished to remain in the darkness and not face the painfully sympathetic faces of her new teammates and the foes she must eventually encounter in battle…

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><p>If anyone had told Grava that waking up only to have a Martian in your dazed mind was pleasant, she would have sent them on a one way trip to the center of the Earth without so much as a blink. So it was natural that she was… 'irritated' when Grava woke up and felt Miss Martian's telepathic link in her mind.<p>

No, irritated would be a vast understatement. Volcanic would have been at least scratched the surface of the truth. It didn't help that all her memories of her time being an experiment had resurfaced so it obviously took all of her willpower to not send everyone around her flying. Instead, she took a deep breath then looked straight at Miss Martian, trying her hardest to be civil if not blunt.

"Get. Out. Now…"

"Grava! You're awa-"

"Get out of my head now, M'gann!"

"But I'm not in-"

"Your link! Sever it! Destroy it! I don't care how, just break it now!"

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><p>Grava's last comment startled M'gann so much that the entire team suddenly got dizzy, except Grava strangely. As soon as the link was severed, Grava got up, pulled down her hood, and silently stormed towards the stern. Aqualad was about to go after her when Artemis, who'd joined the team once she and Robin had disposed of their half of the Cobra Venom, placed a restraining hand on his arm. "Let me take care of this one. I sort of know where she's coming from."<p>

Aqualad hesitated, no doubt thinking it was his duty as leader to confront Grava with the problem, but given the volatile situation with Grava and the remaining tasks still undone for the mission, he nodded. After a few brief orders, he led the rest of the team to do a final sweep to make sure the crew was securely confined below and that no crates of Cobra Venom had accidently been overlooked, leaving Artemis to face Grava alone.

The archer sighed then stared in the direction of the stern. What had she gotten herself into this time?

She finally found Grava leaning against a deck rail, looking out at a rough sea. Artemis wasn't very good at judging emotions but it certainly didn't look like Grava was explosive at the moment. "Hey."

Grava only glanced back before resuming her vigil staring at the ocean. "What is it, Artemis?"

"Hoping you'd calm down enough for a civil conversation."

"A civil conversation? I just had my mind nearly destroyed because of that infernal telepathic link leaving me exposed to the enemy, and you want me to be civil?"

"Hey, hey! Don't blame M'gann for something you never told us about. How were we supposed to know you had enemies? Wait a second… Don't tell me they're goons for that one enemy you're after?"

"I knew you were the sharpest of the lot…"

"Sharp? Huh… Hey! Is that supposed to be some sort of criticism?"

Grava laughed and actually gave Artemis a small smile.

"What are you laughing at?" Artemis growled.

Grava quickly stifled the laugh. "Sorry, you reminded me of my sister for a moment."

Grava's face fell back to its normal emotionless expression. "I really miss her. I guess that's why I'm always on edge. I've never been away from her for so long without some sort of contact… I'm worried about what could've happen to her. Even more so now that my enemy has resurfaced again…"

"No offense but why are you telling me this?" Artemis asked; shocked a tiny bit that Grava actually was conversing.

"You're the only one who would understand me and my situation, Artemis. You should know I don't hand out trust lightly. So don't betray me, or I'll make sure you regret it. Now come on, Aqualad's probably wondering what's taking us so long."

Artemis could only blink once and stare at Grava as the cloaked girl strode towards the team's rendezvous point. "I'm the only one who would understand?"

* * *

><p>The rest of the team's mission was completed and went smoothly with Grava behaving exceptionally well to make up for the time they lost when she went unconscious. When the team arrived back on the mountain, Batman was waiting for them, his expression blank.<p>

Aqualad was about to make his report when the Caped Crusader held up a hand to stop him. He turned to Grava, "Report to J'onn, Gravatina."

The Telmarine clenched her fists and glared at Batman. "Not until you tell me whether or not I've passed your little tests!"

"You'll be told when you need to know."

Yellow light appeared from under Grava's hood and the girl was about to raise one of her hands when Artemis grabbed her by the arm. Everyone grew suddenly silent as the girls stared at each other. One look at the expression on the archer's face and about a minute of contemplation later, Grava forced her powers down.

Gently, she tugged her arm out of Artemis' grasp then walked deeper into the mountain to speak with J'onn. After she'd left, Wally looked around the group and asked, "Did I miss something?"

Artemis gave one of her signature scowls followed by Batman giving the speedster a hard glare that caused fear even though his eyes were not visible. Wally gulped, "Shutting up now."

Batman turned to Aqualad. "Report."

After the Atlantean gave his report, Batman went to one of the computer terminals. Two teenage-looking boys appeared on them with what seemed to be bios running alongside the pictures. One boy had short, combed black hair, a white form-fitting uniform, and red eyes. The other wore a black form-fitting uniform but it was accessorized into a punk style get-up, his white hair was long and spiked, and he had startling blue eyes.

Their names were Mind Stormer and Ravager.

Batman turned back to the team. "I doubt Grava mentioned these two since we told her to keep it secret. However, after your last mission, you need to know these two will be after Grava and anyone with her. Both of them are extremely masterful telepaths. Mind Stormer specializes in tearing down mental defenses and Ravager is adept at siphoning any and all information from a target providing he has an opening."

"These two are extremely dangerous. If any of you face both of them alone, disengage immediately."

The team agreed to Batman's terms, not entirely sure why they had to agree to this if they hadn't even seen the two telepaths yet. However, Batman wasn't done.

"Also, you have a new mission."

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><p><strong>Yes, yes... I know what you're thinking. You've waited for at least three weeks and she ends the chapter with a huge cliffhanger? Trust me, if I could have had it any other way I would have ended it that way.<strong>

**Please tell me what you all think so far whether through reviews or PMing! And again, thank you for being so patient.**

**~Aurora Shadowglen~**


	11. The Beginning of Despair

**Hello everyone and thank you for being patient! Needless to say having a depressed character sucks when you're trying to get information out of them! Oh well, I finally got her to talk and now have a new chapter for you all!**

**Thanks goes to Obiwan1022 for his encouraging review! And also to all you readers out there, thanks for taking to time to read my humble story!**

**A musical suggestion for the majority of this chapter would be 'Krone' from Guilty Crown. Now, without further ado, I present Chapter 11 of _Mentors_!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

The sun cast its warm rays onto the small white sand beach near the mountain known to a select few as Mount Justice. The beach itself was cut off from the rest of the area by the imposing mountain on one side and trees on the other. Five figures were in the water while their sixth companion sat on the beach gazing out to nowhere.

The red-head of the group called to the lone person on the beach. "Come on, Grava! The water's great! Or are you just too stiff-necked to know what fun really is?"

Grava didn't even grace Wally with a response. Instead, she brought her knees up to her chest, grasped them with her hands, and then placed her chin on her knees. Wally turned to his teammates and shrugged. He received no response from them either but all of them knew what the other was thinking.

"_The League traced the original destination for the Cobra Venom and found it to be a New Mexico laboratory which was once under the supervision of Cadmus. Also, the League has received a number of tips about strange experiments being made within the lab's walls. There's currently no proof of the experiments having taken place but with the added fact that they were going to get a shipment of Cobra Venom, we can't throw out that possibility just yet."_

_The team all looked at each other then Aqualad stepped towards Batman and asked, "It is good that we know the truth surrounding the shipment of Cobra Venom but what do you want the team to do with this information?"_

"_For now, nothing. The League is going to investigate the claims made on the lab further. However, there's one thing you all can do to help the League."_

"_And what is that?"_

"_Keep Grava occupied. If what the League thinks is contained in that lab is verified, we can't let Grava know about its existence."_

"_May I ask why?"_

"_Have you ever seen her on a rampage? If you have, you'd understand our reasons."_

_Wally spoke up, ever the one to get his two cents in. "You mean there's actually something that will get a reaction out of Grava? What is it?"_

_Batman narrowed his eyes as he stated. "Her sister…"_

The air was oddly stale even though it was filled with the briny smell of the ocean. None of the team could speak as Grava suddenly stood up and strode back towards the mountain, all except Wally.

The speedster zoomed ahead of her, cutting her off from the mountain. His voice was strangely soft as he asked, "Hey, you sure you don't want to join us?"

Grava gave him a blank stare as she flatly replied, "Even if I did, there would be no joy in the action."

Wally looked perplexed as he stuck his hands into his board-shorts pockets then tried to look underneath Grava's lowered cowl. "You know, you don't have to keep everything tucked away."

"You know nothing about me. Otherwise, you'd know why I keep everything hidden."

"I know that you care for your-"

Artemis coughed loud enough to catch Wally's attention and allow Grava to slip by him before he could stop her. Wally race after her but rammed into something solid yet invisible. A glow from Grava's hand faded as she strode back into the mountain and locked the entrance behind her.

Wally rubbed his head and turned to the others, who were now staring in his direction. "Sheesh…She can't even let a guy try to care about her, huh?"

No one responded. How could they? Even they were clueless on how to find a solution to the problem that was Grava.

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><p>Grava didn't stay long inside Mount Justice. She remained long enough for her to change into some civilian clothes and leave a note for Black Canary telling her trainer she was going to walk around Happy Harbor. She'd hoped to regain a little bit of peace during the small jaunt.<p>

She was wrong. The town and surrounding area was anything but peaceful.

Clouds started to gather and grow darker as she wandered aimlessly through the nearly empty streets. No one paid any attention to her now that she had procured civilian clothes and didn't walk around like a specter in her gray cloak. Before long, a light drizzle fell upon Happy Harbor.

Grava ignored the fact that she was getting wet. Her mind was too depressed to think about anything else except her sister. For three weeks she'd been separated and had no contact with her blood-sister. Her enemies knew she was here on Earth and now most likely knew her current residence, but Grava was still nowhere close to finding her enemy's location.

Thunder and lightning filled the air above her and the light rain soon turned to a downpour. Grava barely noticed the weather around her until she nearly slipped into a swiftly growing puddle of dirty water. Glancing around and thinking it would be prudent to find shelter, she saw a building with stairs leading up to large wooden doors. On the very top of the building, barely visible through the rain, was a metal structure that seemed to be two rods connected at their center.

"The universal sign for a place of healing…" Grava thought as she walked up to the doors. "Perhaps I can get some rest here before I return to the mountain."

Without second-guessing herself, Grava opened one of the large doors. Instead of the many beds and cupboards where medicine would be stored, which Grava had expected for a clinic, there were around twenty long benches set up into rows, leading up to a raised platform. A small upright wooden structure was upon the platform and Grava vaguely remember that J'onn had called them 'podiums', a place where speakers could place their notes.

She had thought the notion of needing notes for speaking was exceedingly foolish. She had the ideology that if there needed to be something said, say it and move on. If you wanted to hide something from someone, don't say anything about it. It was easier and painless that way and had seemed to work for her so far. Especially, when it came to dealing with her 'teammates'.

Grava looked around the large room then sat on the bench farthest away from the podium and closest to the back wall of the building. She leaned back and immediately felt her eyelids descending. The whole room was so…peaceful and quiet. It reminded her of a room on a planet far from this one where both she and her sister lived happily free from 'his' dark reach.

"Are you safe, sister? Have you found a place to stay in safety until I find you? Are you finding a way to provide for yourself?

"Oh, Sage…" Grava whispered as her mind began to reluctantly fall into the steady cadence of sleep. "Please, wait for me…I'm coming…"

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><p>Batman crouched on a hill overlooking a fairly large building out in the middle of nowhere. A large barb-wired fence surrounded the facility with only one gate at the entrance which was currently guarded by two soldiers with semi-automatic rifles. The Caped Crusader grinned. His task would be child's play.<p>

It took Batman all of two minutes to infiltrate the building and proceed down the elevator shaft to the sublevels. Once he reached the third sublevel, he found what he was looking for. A large supercomputer laid waiting for someone to begin a program. Cautiously, he made his way down to the computer and began hacking his way into the system.

The contents of that particular computer would have made any sane person's stomach lurch and anger boil to a bursting point. Whoever used this computer was an insane psychopath who was playing around with human and Telmarine experimentation.

A particular file caught his interest and, after making sure he was still alone, Batman opened it. Its contents made even the hardened vigilante pale. He'd had suspicions of the treatment Gravatina and her 'sister' had received but this… This was beyond cruel to any species, human or alien.

His gaze drifted away from the file until he found another file. It was exactly the information he needed to start getting the destruction of this place underway. He was about to leave when he heard a faint scuff of a boot against the concrete floor. He was about to retreat into the shadows when a boy in punk style clothes and spiked white hair walked up and said, "If you thought what Metus did to those girls was cruel, wait until you hear about what he plans to do to them now. If I wasn't so outright scared of the things that guy would do to me, I would have left this loony bin long ago."

Batman didn't respond but the boy wasn't fazed, so he continued. "Mind Stormer wanted to kill the Gravan on the ship before she could even reach this planet but your little 'Watchtower' got in the way of Metus' plans. However, give him the Gravan and I'm sure he'll be at least halfway decent to you in the future."

"Not acceptable."

"Of course not. You took the Gravan under your wing and now are going to use her abilities for your own 'self-righteous' deeds. Just you wait until you all get her so-called 'sister' back, she'll leave you 'heroes' so fast you'll be dizzy!

"Why? 'Cause that's the way the Gravans' roll. They never stay in one place for too long since everyone does the same ol' thing. Use them for their unique abilities then toss them aside once they've finished whatever they needed them for. You humans are utterly predictable that way."

"And you're not human?"

"'Course not! I'm Ravager, telepath and information gatherer extraordinaire! My brother and I were experiments created by Metus, as well. Our purpose is to seek out his enemies, gather whatever information the Master needs, then destroy said enemy's mind."

"Why tell me all of this? Doesn't this put your side at a disadvantage?"

Ravager grinned maliciously. "Even if you think you have some advantage, there's nothin' that stop Mind Stormer and me! And if by some slim chance you did slip by us, Metus would have you in his grasp and turn you into a nightmare faster than you could breathe one final breath.

"So you see Batman, no matter what scenario you play, our side will always be the victor."

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><p><strong>Cue *Dramatic Music*!<strong>

**Yes, yes I haven't gotten to the climax YET but trust me it's coming. I need to get all the set-up done before the crazy stuff begins! And trust me it get's CRAZY!**

**Thanks again for being so patient with me, I hope to get the next chapter out FAR quicker than this last one! But until then, please tell me what you think!**

**Until the next update, faithful reader,**

**~Aurora Shadowglen~**


	12. Progression

**Chapter 12 - Progression**

Grava awoke to someone gently sliding the sunglasses over her eyes. Her hand shot up, grasping the glasses and shoving them back into their former position. Her eyes searched for her assailant only to find a man with thinning gray hair and light blue eyes jerk away, startled. She locked her gaze upon him searching his face, praying that she wouldn't have to fight unless she had to.

His blue eyes held compassion and concern, but Grava had known a man who used those same emotions to bring her off-guard then betrayed her. She looked deeper into the blue orbs and accidently lowered her telepathic shields.

Images raced through her mind's eye causing Grava to stiffen. This man thought she was a homeless girl but was also curious as to why she had kept sunglasses over her eyes while she slept. He guessed she might be blind but her movements were strange for one. Once she stiffened however, the man relaxed and accepted the likelihood that she was blind and was just startled earlier.

Grava's revelations about this newcomer were cut short as the elderly man spoke. "Forgive me for startling you, young lady, but I was merely taking off your glasses so you might not break them while you slept."

Grava brought her hand up to her sunglasses, adjusting them slightly. "You're forgiven, sir. I'm sorry as well. I didn't mean to sleep here, I just-"

"No, no, it's quite alright. I understand. You must have been seeking shelter from the heavy storm that passed through recently. In all honesty, I would have taken a little nap here too. It's very peaceful in the sanctuary when no one's around."

Grava smiled faintly, though inwardly she was searching through all the knowledge J'onn had taught her for the meaning behind the word 'sanctuary'. Finally, she found the meaning. A safe place…

"Are you alright?"

Grava turned head to face the man. It was a simple question but she realized that it had deeper implications than just if she was physically able to move. "Physically, I am fine. However, I recently became separated from my sister and I'm worried for her safety."

Why did she trust this man? Was it because of the compassion or concern for her welfare that she picked up from his mind? No, it was something about the man. He seemed… at peace. The elder nodded his head gravely. "I see. I'm sure your sister is worried for you as well. Does she live here in the city?"

"No. In fact, I really don't know where she is right now. And my 'blindness' doesn't help matters either."

"Hmm… That would cause a problem. Well, wherever your sister is, I'm sure she's missing you greatly and is searching as hard as she can to find you."

"Thank you for the reassurance," Grava said as she slowly rose. The man might not know the whole situation but it was slight comfort to hear those words right now. Her teammates had seemed distant ever since the last mission and she couldn't help but think that Batman had decided to kick her off the team because of her collapse during the mission. Their sympathy was not what Grava wanted to see or receive from them. Encouragement was a different matter though.

Imitating being blind, as to not arouse suspicion with her strange yellow eyes, Grava felt her way towards the edge of the bench she'd slept on. Once she was clear of the benches and into open air, the man gently took her by the arm.

She must have unconsciously stiffened, for the man smiled and said, "Please, allow me to help you."

Grava took a breath then forced a small smile to her face. "If you could lead me to the door, I'd be most grateful."

"But-"

"Don't worry. I have a friend who's waiting not too far from here. Just lead me outside and I can make my way there with no trouble."

"If that's what you wish."

"Yes, please. Also, thank you for your hospitality. It was most appreciated."

"Of course. You can come back here whenever you like. Just ask for me and I'll make sure to help you out as soon as I can. My name's Steven."

"Thank you, Steven. I'm… I'm Tina. Tina Newman."

* * *

><p>Grava was in better spirits once she returned back to Mount Justice. After considering the time, she was sure that the team would be starting combat practice, but when she entered only Black Canary and a strange man wearing an old style of suit were around the main computer console. Still in her civilian clothes, Grava walked up to the two. "Pardon me, but wasn't the team supposed to have combat practice right now?"<p>

Black Canary turned from her conversation with the strange man to Grava. "So you finally decide to come back, huh? The team's showing one of their peers around the mountain. That being said, the team's combat practice has been canceled for the day."

The man coughed politely into a white-gloved hand, catching Canary's attention. "Oh, yes. Grava, I don't think you've met Giovanni Zatara. He's part of the Justice League and is an expert magician. Zatara, this is Gravatina Nova. She's the one whose sister we're searching for."

The man removed his top hat and bow slightly. "A pleasure to meet you, Gravatina."

"The pleasure is mine, Magician Giovanni Zatara."

Giovanni raised an eyebrow and turned to Black Canary. The blonde shrugged. "Back on her home world, wizards are a rarity, Giovanni. That's why they add the title; as a sign of respect."

Zatara nodded slowly. "I see…"

Grava smiled at Black Canary, thankful she didn't have to give the wizard an explanation. Removing her navy jacket, she was about to head over to a small rack where her cape was held when Giovanni asked, "Is that…?"

Grava turned and followed Giovanni's gaze. Sighing, she smiled. "No, you're eyes aren't deceiving you, honorable magician."

Giovanni shook his head in disbelief. "How did such an object fuse with you like that? Was it surgically implanted?"

"No, more like natural ability gone to the breaking point in order to survive."

Canary looked at the two, utterly confused. "What are you two talking about?"

Grava faced Canary, her cloak still off, and the older woman's eyes widened. There, sticking out of the skin and fused with Grava's collarbone was an orange-gold crystal no bigger than a golf ball. "The Gravan crystal. It's a magical crystal which is said to give the user the power over gravity. This is the source of my power and, in fact, the very reason Metus is trying so hard to capture or kill me."

* * *

><p>It was around two weeks later that Grava stood alongside the team listening to the outline of a new mission. That day she'd met Giovanni Zatara, the team had rescued their cyborg supervisor, Red Tornado, and then only six days later the main part of the team went through a mental training exercise.<p>

Grava had been excused from the exercise since according to Batman her mental state was still too unstable. In all truthfulness, Grava was happy that she hadn't participated in that particular training exercise. She'd had enough Martians get into her head to last a lifetime and there was the distinct possibility that secret memories would have resurface during that time as well.

As it was, there was an accident during the training drill and the whole team became depressed and so similar to Grava's attitude that the Telmarine had decided to kick everyone back into gear once they'd finished getting interviewed and psychologically examined by Black Canary. Nothing like a little bit of frustrating no-powers combat practice to get the team to forget their troubles.

It was after Grava's help that Robin and Artemis had declared their training in hand-to-hand combat, acrobatics, and stealth over. Aqualad had also told her that she could officially become a member of the team, if she so desired. Grava was stalling her decision. She wanted to do one more mission with them before she decided on joining permanently or not. She did have an obligation to find her sister before joining a sub-unit of the Justice League.

Grava quickly focused back onto the mission details Batman was outlining for them.

"You'll be infiltrating a lab in New Mexico where we believe the shipments of Cobra Venom were going to be delivered. You have one task. Get in and destroy all the research they have pertaining to 'Gravans'. There will be hostile forces stationed around and in the building. Do not engage unless you have no other option. Both myself and Martian Manhunter will be on stand-by as an extra precaution.

"Grava, I especially do not want you to engage any hostiles. Even if you encounter your nemesis, do not engage. If you disobey this, I need not remind you what will happen."

Grava merely nodded. Batman stared at her for a long moment before turning to the rest of the team. "You have your orders. Make sure to memorize the layout of the lab before your mission begins."

The team quickly dispersed leaving only Grava, Batman, and J'onn in the room. She waited a moment more to make sure no one else was within hearing distance and turned to Batman, "Any headway on the search for my sister?"

The scowl on his face deepened as he replied. "We have a few leads but so far we don't have any substantial evidence or clues yet. We're still looking, Grava, you just focus on your next mission."

Batman's hidden eyes and Grava's yellow ones connected, neither of them wavering in their glares for even a second, until Grava sighed and began to walk away. "You know I'll follow your orders to the letter, Batman. But, if I find even the slightest clue to the whereabouts of my sister, I promise nothing. I will not just sit around and wait while your team takes their sweet time to find just one piece of information! My priority is to find my sister, not be part of your little sub-unit of the League."

Once Grava was gone, Batman turned to the Martian Manhunter. "Keep an eye on her. The Earth has enough problems without having to worry about a gravity manipulator going on a rampage."

"You don't have anything to worry about, as long as you don't lie to her."

"Yeah…"


	13. A Reckless Inflitration

**Chapter 13 – A Reckless Infiltration**

As silent as death, Grava fell down towards the roof of the lone laboratory building out in the middle of the New Mexican desert. Using a small portion of her power, she gently slowed herself to land softly on her feet by an air vent. Slowly, she moved across the roof and mentally marked the position of all the sentries. Minutes passed in silence and waiting, until the guards were finally relieved by a new wave of their companions, only then did Grava strike.

The new lookouts barely had enough time to settle into their positions when pulses of gravity knocked them off their feet and out of consciousness. Grava took only a brief moment to make sure all of them were at least incoherent before place her index finger on the earpiece given to her by the team. "Grava to Team, the roof is secure. Proceeding to Phase Two."

Aqualad replied to her report. "Acknowledged. Proceed with caution, Grava."

Grava didn't respond. She hated the little ear radios but they were far better than leaving herself open to a telepathic attack by Ravager or Mind Stormer. Unfortunately, that also meant she couldn't sense anyone more than a few feet around her. "Oh, well… If this is what it takes for Batman to finally trust me I'll do it. But I still miss you, Sage…"

Her reverie was broken by the silent landings of the rest of the team. She nodded to Aqualad then sprinted ahead of the main group in a scout position. Without seeing the Martian, Grava could sense M'gann flying alongside her as she descended into the shadowy bowels of the lab.

Grava tensed as she continued further into the lab. Something was wrong. There were no scientists working late on projects, no guards patrolling, and the drink humans called 'coffee' was still releasing a thin tendril of steam into the air. The lab had been abandoned quickly and without anyone exiting through the main doorway…

Her eyes widened. The lab had been expecting the team.

Grava stopped in the shadows of a large computer, a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. She didn't sense another mind telepathically, but she did feel the gravity around her pushing down on another presence in the room that she couldn't see with a casual glance.

The hidden person was crouching and seemed to have their short hair combed back. "Mind Stormer! M'gann, get out of here!"

There was a thump and Grava turned to see M'gann, visible now, clutching her head as her eyes began glowing green. Mind Stormer rose, grinning towards Grava. "Hello, Gravan. Or shall I call you Gravatina? You certainly took your sweet time getting to this place. I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever find us so we could recapture you and bring you back to the Master. He's been waiting a long time for your return."

"I will not return to become Metus' slave!"

Mind Stormer laughed. "'Become' the Master's slave? You already are his slave, Telmarine freak!"

Yellow light began to fill Grava's eyes as her rage grew and her fists tightened. Mind Stormer was right. After the experiments performed on her, Grava was already a slave to Metus' twisted legacy, but that legacy would come to an end. "I swore on my life that I would make Metus pay for what he did to Sage and I, and nothing you and your 'brother' can do will stop me!"

Grava's fist glowed and she sprang at Mind Stormer only to punch a wall as Mind Stormer dodged and disappeared into the darkness, whispering, "You better hurry, Telmarine. Your precious 'Sage' is getting farther from your grasp each passing second…"

Grava stiffened then raced into the darkness, following Mind Stormer. Orders or not, Sage was waiting for her and Grava was not going to keep her sister waiting any longer.

* * *

><p>When M'gann came to, she was kneeling on the floor of the lab, still clutching her head. The majority of the team was around her with worried expressions while Robin and Artemis were erasing all the data related to 'Gravans'. M'gann tried to tell everyone she was fine using a psychic link but for some reason her mind was too fuzzy to focus.<p>

Kalder asked her something but it all sounded like garbled letters until her mind slightly refocused and she remembered that the team spoke English and not Martian. "Duh, Megan! Sorry, Kalder, would you mind repeating your question?"

"Are you alright, M'gann? What happened to you and where is Grava?"

Her mind instantly cleared. "Mind Stormer. He's just as powerful as Simon but his attacks were more wide range instead of focused. It was the barrage of attacks that overwhelmed me. As for Grava… I don't know where she went and she told us that she'd block her mind from any telepathic probes, so I don't have a clue."

"Well, I do," Robin stated as he pulled up a screen of video cameras. Three were focused on an enraged Grava running and fighting through waves of guards in one of the sublevels. Her whole body was glowing the entire time and the guards didn't stand a chance since they couldn't get near her. Robin switched to a different screen, this time to one with a layout of the lab with descriptions on what equipment or staff was assigned to each room. Robin pointed to a room labeled S601 with a caption underneath reading, 'Gravan 002, Sagesong Pearl.'

"It's her sister. And that's not all, in the files I just erased, Grava is the result of an experiment conducted by a man named Metus. I don't want to even describe some of the nasty things he did to her before he was able to replicate the experiment with Grava and caused a young girl to gain powers similar to Grava's."

"So that must be the guy she's after…" Artemis muttered, causing the entire team to stare at her. Sighing, she said, "Listen, I don't know what happened but I know if I was in a position like Grava's I'd want some pay-back. Right?"

The team members nodded, apparently buying Artemis' explanation for now. Kalder addressed the team, resolve on his face. "We must stop Grava before she goes into a berserker rage and kills everything around her. Also, we must not allow Grava to find this 'Metus' until we know more about him. Superboy, Robin, Kid Flash, and I will distract Grava while Miss Martian, supported by Artemis, gets her to calm down. After we have done this, we will leave the labs. Understood?"

The team nodded as one. "Then move out."

"I'm afraid I can't let that happen."

"You mean 'we' can't let that happen."

Two boys appeared from the shadows and stood before the team. One wore white, had smooth black hair, and red eyes while the other wore black, had spiked white hair, and crystal blue eyes. They were Mind Stormer and Ravager, respectively, and the team was in massive trouble.

* * *

><p>Grava shoved aside another wave of guards with a sweep of her hand as she came to the last door on sublevel six: S601. Taking a breath, she forced her rage to lessen slightly. This was the last place Sage could be, if she was in the labs, and the anticipation of seeing her sister again was nearly making Grava's head spin with delight. She closed her eyes and reached out with her gravity powers, sensing if there was anyone inside the room.<p>

There was. A young girl was tied up within the room and it just had to be Sage! Without a second thought, Grava burst into the room and was met with an unexpected shock.

There was indeed a girl tied up within the room but it was not Sage. This girl was completely human and had no gravity power radiated from within her.

She'd failed. Metus had won. Sage was gone.

Defeated, she fell to the ground and wept, utterly devastated and broken. She felt nothing around her except the grief and disappointment from her own heart, so it was to be expected she did not notice a hand hit the back of her neck, instantly knocking her out.

The captive girl shrunk into a tight ball as she recognized the man behind the fallen Gravatina Nova. He appeared to be in his early forties with wild black hair that was barely even out of his stone gray eyes and nearly covered his square-shaped glasses. He wore the typical outfit of a scientist, complete with the standard white lab coat. However, his smile was what caused the captive girl to be frightened. It was a dark, malevolent smile which was the portent of doom to all who saw it.

The man's name was Metus and Grava had fallen completely into his trap.

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, Yes... You wait forever to get an update on Mentors and it's a short chapter? Please forgive me but this was one of the hardest things to do to my characters due to the sheer torture Metus made Grava go through the last time he got his hands on her (and no I'm not posting THAT horrid scene because I already know it would get an M rating with the first part!). <strong>

**Also, now that I figured out what was wrong with my plot before, I shall be updating this story more regularly. However, it most likely won't be a weekly update, but instead be a biweekly update. As I've explained with other stories, this is a hobby and my schoolwork has to come first, but I will continue to write and update my stories.**

**Thank you all for your patience with me! Special thanks goes to raelover123 for letting me know about the DC/Marvel thing (I did fix it btw). Also, my most sincere thanks goes to Anonymous Fellow for encouraging me to continue on (you kick-started me into writing this new chapter, my friend!). **

**Hope you all thought this chapter was worth the long wait, and rest assured the next chapter is already started to be written. Until then, let me know what you think through the lovely little thoughts called 'reviews'. Reviews are a valued source of encouragement for any author, especially if they kindly point out a weak spot.**

**I look forward to hearing your thoughts,**

**~Aurora Shadowglen~**


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